Learning Curves
by crazyamoeba
Summary: General Sephiroth was the first person to admit that he had difficulty understanding people and emotions.Zack and Cloud prove to be good teachers. Most of the time, they are unwitting teachers.I do not own any part of Final Fantasy.
1. Chapter 1

**Learning curves**

General Sephiroth was the first person to admit that he had difficulty understanding people and emotions.

That was not to say that he did not have any emotions. That concept was just silly, and he found it rather tiresome that some people did not expect him to have emotions. Of course he had emotions; he was a human being! Emotions were built in.

But this by no means meant that he completely understood emotions, and why people felt and did what they did. Especially the more complex situations and emotions. He would be aware that a situation was complex, but he would often be unable to really explain why, and explain the underlying feelings.

Sephiroth, however, thought of this as ignorance. And he thought that ignorance was a weakness. Therefore, he wanted to stamp it out.

So he was taking lessons. No one knew of course, including his 'teachers'.

His unknowing teachers were his Second in Command, Zackary Fair, and the little blond recruit that Zack had taken a great liking to, and loved to pull around everywhere with him. Zack carried him around everywhere like a pretty doll. Sephiroth believed his name was Cloud. Cloud Strife, was it? Yes, he thought that was the right name.

They turned out to be very good unwitting teachers.

_Lesson one: Happiness_

Zack was the type of person that was, insofar as Sephiroth could tell, pretty much always happy. The eternal optimist, at least. Always smiling, looking on the bright side, offering encouraging advice. He was very cheerful, and fairly loud, as Sephiroth knew only too well.

But from what Sephiroth could tell, Cloud Strife was really the opposite. He seemed to be a very quiet, shy boy, who was somewhat reluctant to trust.

He was reserved with his smiles, because according to Zack, if too many things went well, Cloud simply thought, 'it's too good to be true, what's the catch?'

And Sephiroth had always got the impression that Cloud was not completely happy.

However, whenever Zack approached the recruit, this always seemed to change. His face did not seem to be able to help lighting up in a smile, and his eyes seemed to become a little brighter.

Zack would grin back at the boy, and would then most likely either ruffle his hair, or give him a big bear hug. Or both. Then their little routine would begin; Zack would tease Cloud about anything that he could get his hands on, and the young cadet would splutter indignantly while being pulled along by Zack, who would invariably be laughing at the younger man's discomfort.

If the boy was particularly tense, Zack would go over to him and gently hug him from behind. His arms would wrap around Cloud's chest, and his thumb would take up a rhythmic stroking of the blonde's hand. And every single time that Sephiroth witnessed this, the boy would, without fail, relax into Zack's embrace. True, sometimes the boy would be a little reluctant, and would sometimes remain stiff and unyielding in the older man's arms.

But after a while of stroking and warmth, the boy's muscles would visibly start to relax until he was completely pliant in Zack's arms.

Sephiroth also found that it was very informative to watch how Zack would cheer up his companion.

Sephiroth did not have a lot of contact with Cloud when Zack was not around, so he did not really witness any private moments, but there had been one instance that stuck in his mind.

The boy had returned from a mission that had gone horribly wrong. The boy and his unit had been sent, along with a two SOLDIER's and a small number of other senior military personnel, to negotiate with a band of rebels. But the negotiations had failed, and the team had been ambushed in the dead of night.

Heavy losses were sustained.

According to Zack, some of Cloud's few friends had been killed that day.

Zack had immediately gone to the infirmary, where all the survivors had been taken, wanting to see Cloud as soon as he possibly could.

Sephiroth had followed, as was his custom; he always checked on his men. He gained satisfaction from the knowledge that his men were safe.

And that was where he had found Cloud; on the verge of hysteria, being held by several doctors who were trying to examine him. But Cloud, it seemed, was not in the right mood for an examination; he was yelling himself hoarse, his limbs flailed wildly, and tears could be seen streaking down his face.

Zack had practically charged at the doctors, telling them in no uncertain terms to get away from the blond cadet.

Cloud looked up at the sound of Zack's voice, and Sephiroth saw that the boy's face was lined with distress.

"Zack!" He had yelled, his voice cracking and his form trembling as he recognised a friendly face amidst the horror.

His second in command had reached the blond, and had wrapped him in tight hug.

The boy leant his face into Zack's chest, and Sephiroth could see his shoulders shaking, and knew that he was still crying, even though he could not hear the sobs.

What Zack did next puzzled Sephiroth slightly. He began stroking Cloud's head soothingly (which was not that unusual), and whispered to Cloud 'It's okay, it's okay,' over and over again.

And those words were what puzzled Sephiroth. The boy was crying. That meant he was sad. And Cloud was Zack's friend. So surely Zack would not want him to be sad. And so it followed logically that Zack should tell Cloud to stop crying, because Zack should not want him to be sad.

But instead, Zack just held on to the boy while the doctor's fussed over him, and told him that it was all okay.

Later, when Zack had finally managed to soothe the boy off to sleep, and Sephiroth had done his rounds of the ward, speaking to the men, he had pulled Zack aside from his place at Cloud's bed.

"Zack, may I ask you a question?" He had spoken softly, not wanting to wake Cloud.

Zack gave him a funny look, and then grinned.

"Well sure! You don't have to ask for permission to ask a question!" The brunette had laughed. "Go right ahead!"

Sephiroth had hesitated for a moment, unsure of how to phrase the question.

"Well, when you were comforting Strife…why were you not telling him to stop crying?"

Zack's face looked blank for a moment, and then graduated on to puzzled.

"Well…why would I tell him to stop crying?" He asked, as if Sephiroth had asked a very strange question.

This frustrated Sephiroth slightly. Zack was the one whose behaviour was strange.

Sephiroth's reasoning was perfectly logical; Zack should not want Strife to be crying, because crying meant that a person was upset. And people did not want their other friends to be upset. At least, that was how he saw it.

"Zack, Strife is your friend, correct?" Zack gave Sephiroth another strange look and nodded.

"And Strife was crying. When someone is crying, they are upset. You should not want your friend to be upset. So why did you fail to tell him to stop crying? To stop being upset."

Zack took a few second to process this, and then promptly began laughing.

"Oh, Seph." He smiled, a little sadly, but with a hint of amusement. "Your logic is perfect. You're right. It does make sense. Somebody you care for is crying, and that means that they are upset. And you're right; I don't want my friends to be upset. But it doesn't quite work like that. You forgot one thing…human's aren't logical."

Sephiroth frowned. Why did it not work like that?

"Then how does it work, Zackary? Explain it to me."

It was an order, but the confusion in the General's voice toned down any intimidation the tone may have held otherwise.

Zack smiled again.

"It works like this; people don't stop being upset just because you tell them to. Hell, some people can't even stop crying when you tell them to. It's not like the battlefield; you don't just bark orders, and then watch as everyone obeys them." Zack explained slowly, gently, as if to a child.

"If you tell people to stop crying, and to stop being upset, they think that you don't approve of them; that you think that they are weak. And so they bottle up all their feelings, and keep them hidden away. But you should know better than anyone that just because something is hidden, it doesn't mean that it is not there."

Zack took a pause for breath, and looked to Sephiroth, to make sure that the man understood so far.

He was hooked on every word.

"So the feelings are still there. But they are just bottled up." Zack continued. "And when feelings are ignored, they just sit there, in that little bottle in the back of your mind, and they just grow worse and worse, because you are ignoring them. It's like a case of mould. The longer you leave it, the more it grows."

"Like the case of mould behind your bathroom sink?" Sephiroth asked curiously.

Zack jumped on the chance of something that Sephiroth would understand.

"Yeah! Exactly like that! The longer I left it, the more it grew. Until it grew so large that it reached the ceiling." Zack looked rather proud, but quickly went back to the subject at hand when he saw Sephiroth cocking an eyebrow at him.

"And so now go back to the image of the bottle. Imagine trying to fit all the mould – all those feelings – into one small bottle. The mould and the feelings will grow, until they are too big to fit into the bottle, and the bottle will break. And that is when you get the mental break downs. Like in Wutai."

Sephiroth's eye twitched momentarily. But then he seemed to catch on to something.

"And so by letting Strife vent his feelings now, you are getting rid of the mould when it first starts to grow, so there will be nothing to force into a bottle, and so the bottle can't break?"

The silver-haired man's tone was cautious, but sounded a lot more confidant than it had a few minutes ago.

Zack, for his part, sighed with relief.

"Yeah, that's exactly right!" He exclaimed, patting Cloud's head absently, looking rather sheepish when the boy gave a sleepy whine of protest.

Sephiroth watched as Zack lifted his hand until the boy quieted again.

"Zack?"

"Yeah?"

"You're right, humans are not logical."

TBC


	2. Lesson Two: Sadness

Lesson two: Sadness

Sephiroth had done battle with some of the most powerful creatures of the planet and won.

He had lived through terrible conditions, both in the lab and the field.

He had commanded, fought and won, one of the most gruelling wars known to man. He had trained and whipped into shape so many lacklustre and unsuitable people, and made them into shining examples of SOLDIER's.

He had signed lord knows how many death certificates.

He had survived years of the vicious gossip and intrigue of the court of Shinra politics.

But had survived Zack.

But one thing that Sephiroth could not do was deal with people who cried.

Crying cadets were aplenty in the Shinra military, and although he sympathised with them, he simply did not know how to deal with them.

Whenever he had to talk to a cadet about a rather sensitive subject, he always made sure to have Zack in the office with him, as a nice safety net. Just in case the cadet started sobbing, in which case, he could leave Zack to the hugging and the cajoling, while he simply made sure that what needed to be done was done.

He usually just tried to avoid listening in on what Zack was saying to the crying cadet, as it was awkward for all if he just sat there and gawked. And so it was that this was another area of expertise that Sephiroth lacked in.

And his teachers once again came to the rescue. Completely unwittingly of course.

It was the day of the funeral. Several funerals actually; services for the people from Cloud's squad who had died during the course of the disastrous mission.

Zack had told him previously that two of Cloud's very limited number of friends had died during the mission.

Sephiroth and Zack, along with the other SOLDIER's, were stood away from the cadet's, and so Zack could not actually be with Cloud during the service. But the brunette kept craning his neck to get a look at the blond. Once, Sephiroth followed the other man's gaze, and he could see that Cloud was perfectly composed; still and silent, but that there were tears coursing down his cheeks. The boy had only just been released from the infirmary, so he was sitting down, and looked rather pale, which only added to his frail appearance.

When the service was over though, and most people began to slowly depart, Zack quickly made his way over to the blond, who was still sitting, staring blankly at the memorial statue, tears still pouring down his face.

Sephiroth felt a stab of sympathy for the cadet, for sitting there like that, he just looked so lost and vulnerable.

It also made him wonder how Zack was going to deal with the boy. Obviously he would not tell him to stop crying.

As he watched, Zack slowly sat down, and then gently pulled Cloud to lean against his side. The boy was perfectly pliant in Zack's arms; he just let himself be repositioned, as though he simply did not care.

For a long while, that was all that went on. Zack simply sat there, for once no hint of a smile gracing his lips, and held onto Cloud, stroking his hair slightly, as the other sat there motionless and silent, staring at the only remainder of his friends with glassy eyes.

The hug looked like it was an incredibly tight one.

After a while of complete silence though, Zack leaned over, buried his nose in Cloud's hair, and – to Sephiroth's slight surprise – pressed a kiss to the top of the boy's head.

He kept his lips firmly in Cloud's blond spikes, even when he spoke.

"You all right in there?" Zack seemed to be addressing Cloud's brain. His eyes were looking at Cloud's head as his lips still rested on Cloud's hair.

"Yeah." Was the numb reply.

Zack sighed.

"Please don't lie to me, pokey brain." Zack said, again addressing Cloud's head. "Cos I know when the mouth is lying for you. I know because I can hear you whirring away in that spiky blond temple of yours, and the body that you control is all tense. But the mouth is telling me something completely different to the other signals I'm picking up. The mouth lies for you, pokey brain. I hope you tell it that lying is wrong."

Cloud's reaction startled Sephiroth slightly. The boy gave a sound that was much like a laugh, only much…paler. Weaker.

He leaned over slightly, to see the boy's face. His eyes were still red and streaming with tears, but his mouth was pulled into a rather strange grimace that would, under normal circumstances, be one of Cloud's rather winning smiles. Sephiroth supposed that it was still a smile, but something about the way that a happy expression and a sad expression mixed made it into a sort of grimace.

"Zaaack."

The name came out as a whine, and Sephiroth noted that the boy's voice sounded different. It was thick and rather choked sounding and anyone could tell that the boy had been crying. But there was also the hint of that laugh there. It was small and weak, but it was definitely there.

Zack seemed satisfied with this, as he let a small smile – smaller than usual – grace his lips, and then he settled back down, winding Cloud even tighter in his arms.

Sephiroth watched from his safe distance and could not help but feel glad that both he and this boy had such a…knowledgeable person looking after them.

Oh, Zack may not have a lot of common sense when it came to some things, but he was very intelligent, especially when it came to this…emotion business.

But one other thing that Sephiroth noted was that this time, Zack was not telling Cloud that it would be okay.

He wanted to ask why, but when he heard another sob escape the small blond, he simply turned around and walked back to his office.

He would ask later.

TBC

AN: Thank you all for the lovely reviews! Oh, and by the way I am kind of opening part of this up to you guys now. If you have a prompt for any of the lessons, then do contact me, and I'll be happy to include them in the story. I'll try my best. First come, first served.

I'm really sorry, but I'm afraid that at the moment, all I can take is 5 prompts. Sorry! Real life is busy! Obviously, after I have done those five, then I will open the prompts again, but first I have to get those 5 done.

Next lesson: Anger.


	3. Lesson Three: Anger

_Lesson Three: Anger_

Sometimes, Sephiroth felt like a downright pervert. A voyeur. An intruder.

Some of his 'lessons' made him feel as though he really ought not to be there. A situation where he knew he should leave, but simply found himself so enthralled with the people he was learning from, that he was unable to move.

Most of the time, these rather uncomfortable situations were caused by the fact that Sephiroth and Zack – and now, to a lesser extent, Cloud – had such a close relationship. Zack and Sephiroth shared an office, and whenever they had enough free time, they would be in each other's quarters. They both enjoyed the company, and strangely enough, very rarely got sick of the abundance of it.

But it still created problems. Problems that involved Cloud.

The shy cadet did not actually cause upset through any deliberate actions, but sometimes, it could cause certain…privacy problems.

Zack and Cloud had a very close relationship. And because the boy was spending more and more time with Zack and Sephiroth, there were bound to be times when they had rather personal moments. And the fact that Sephiroth and Zack, and now Cloud, practically lived together, this made it rather difficult to avoid…overhearing things. Or overseeing things.

Like he was now.

He had awoken from his slumber to the sound of tense voices coming from the living room.

He had immediately sought to leave the other two to themselves, and had just stood up when he realised something.

He couldn't leave.

Obviously, Zack's conversation with Cloud had begun while he had been sleeping.

And the two did not know he was there. If he left now, he would notify them of his presence, and that would just be awkward for all. They would abruptly stop their argument, trying to bottle up feelings and words within a matter of seconds, and then they would wonder how much Sephiroth had heard or seen, and the General would be left feeling strangely guilty and just as awkward as Zack and Cloud.

He felt a brief pang of pity for Cloud, knowing that it was a possibility that he had found himself in this position of playing unwilling voyeur to himself and Zack when they spoke.

But this pang of pity lasted only a short time as the voices in the next room became even more strained.

"…appreciate it, but you suffocate me sometimes!"

Sephiroth recognised the voice as Cloud's, and it sounded very distressed. Angry.

"I know you feel like I'm not confidant in you, Cloud, but it's really nothing to do with that." Came Zack's voice, definitely sounding strained, but much more soothing.

"Well then what the Hell is it?!" Cloud hissed, and there came a thumping sound from the living room. Sephiroth frowned, and dared to move himself a fraction to the left, so he could just about see through the crack of the door.

Cloud was backed up against the wall, hands clutching at his own hair so tightly that it must have been painful.

Zack, however, was almost at the other side of the room from Cloud, which seemed odd to Sephiroth. The brunette had that caring look on his face that told you that he was trying to help someone, or cheer them up. But usually Zack was such a tactile person; if he was helping someone, or trying to lighten their mood, he would always be there with his arms wrapped around them in a bone crushing hug.

But now Zack seemed to be deliberately keeping his distance. How odd.

"Cloud, please don't pull at your hair like that, you're gonna hurt yourself." Zack's voice was quiet once again and soothing, but had a strange, almost pleading air to it that Sephiroth rarely heard.

"Don't change the subject!" Cloud spat, still fisting at his hair very slightly, but looking up to glare at Zack.

Zack raised his hands in a gesture of surrender, his face still showing nothing but a calm, caring expression.

"Okay, Cloud, okay, I'll explain." Zack conceded.

"Big brother syndrome." Was all that he said.

Sephiroth could see that Cloud was puzzled. He was none the wiser.

"What?" Cloud snapped, angered already, and becoming even more so by this riddle.

Zack was not irritated or hurt by Cloud's impatience, he simply took it in his stride, keeping his calm manner.

"Big brother syndrome." He repeated. "Maybe it's not the best analogy to use, but it's the simplest one that I can think of."

Here Zack paused, making sure that he had Cloud's full attention. He then spoke slowly, choosing his words carefully.

"You see…I _like_ to make people happy. I _enjoy_ protecting the people that I care about. Regardless of whether they need it or not." Zack let out a little chuckle. "And I know it must irritate the hell out of people, because I just have to help them whether or not they need or want my help, and it has nothing to do with how strong they are -"

"Don't lie to me!" Cloud suddenly hissed venomously, his eyes narrowing in anger, but also in hurt and no small amount of humiliation. "You don't have to patronise me Zack! Just tell me the truth."

Despite this outburst, Zack remained remarkably calm. He took a very small step in Cloud's direction, looking the boy steadily in the eye.

"First of all Cloud, you asked me to explain, so it kind of defeats the point if you won't let me finish what I'm going to say." There was no anger in Zack's voice, it sounded completely calm, and had a definite soothing quality to it.

"Secondly, I'm not lying to you or patronising you, I'm telling you the truth." Cloud still looked suspicious, but kept quiet, Zack's gentle chastisement staying his tongue.

"Look, Cloud, maybe I can prove to you that I like to coddle practically everyone I meet. Do you remember that time that Seph and I were arguing; when you came in and we were screaming and yelling at each other, and it culminated in Seph nearly strangling me?"

Cloud shuddered. Yes, he did remember that; he had come to see Zack, by invitation, and had walked into their office to a very rare sight; the two SOLDIERS fighting.

It was strange but true to say that although the two SOLDIERS spent a very large amount of time together, they hardly ever fought. But that one time, he had entered Zack's rooms, only to hear the sound of a blazing argument coming from the front room. Cloud remembered flinching and having to cover his ears. When two SOLDIERS fought, you knew about it. That was the problem with SOLDIERS; everything is enhanced; the strength, the agility and the senses. But more importantly in this case, the volume.

Normally, the voices of the two superiors didn't bother Cloud. But he suspected that this was only because they made an effort to keep it down for the benefit of him and any other un-enhanced people that may be in the area.

However, at that moment, neither one was holding back. They were both clearly angry, and they thought that no one was around to hear them, and so they pulled no punches. They were practically deafening.

Cloud did not even remember any of what was said; he just remembered it being so loud that he had pressed his hands over his ears so hard that they had been hurting for quite some time after.

He also remembered looking in through the crack of the door, and seeing Sephiroth clutching at Zack's neck, looking more furious than Cloud had ever seen him.

So he had done the first thing that occurred to him; he burst into the room and flung himself at Sephiroth. Thinking back now, it was mortifyingly embarrassing. But at the time it had been terrifying. He had latched onto one of the General's muscled arms with both of his hands, and had squeezed tight enough to force a grunt from the man.

Not hard enough, however, to dislodge the General. Cloud just hung there, both of his hands only just reaching around the whole of Sephiroth's arm, feeling fairly helpless.

Then he had noticed that Sephiroth wasn't actually putting any pressure onto Zack's neck; he was merely expressing his frustration, SOLDIER style.

He had let go pretty fast.

Sephiroth smiled a little from his vantage point, remembering how terrified the cadet had looked, and how much courage it must have taken to actually attack his commanding officer. And manage to cause damage. There had been a big purple bruise on that arm for a long time, though he doubted that Cloud or Zack knew this.

"Yes." Cloud grated out, returning to the present. "I remember. What does that have to do with it?"

Zack smiled. "Everything. Because we were arguing about the fact that I punched Hojo." Cloud couldn't help himself. He gaped.

Zack chuckled, knowing that the boy probably thought that he was either lying or crazy. Or both.

Sephiroth personally thought that Zack was crazy. He knew he wasn't lying, but he was pretty sure that he was crazy.

"Yeah, I don't think Seph could believe it either. But I couldn't help it. It was my Big Brother syndrome kicking in again. Hojo was making all these really vicious, malevolent little comments at Seph whenever we saw him. Just little things, you know? Not out and out threats, but just enough to send the shivers up your back and get your blood boiling. You know what I mean?" Cloud shuddered. He knew all too well what Zack meant. Other cadets could be almost as cruel as creepy scientists.

"Well anyway, I could tell that it got to Seph. Hell, I think it would get to anyone. Although Seph was adamant that he wasn't bothered about it, cos he's just about as stubborn as you are like that." Cloud scowled, but Zack paid it no mind.

Sephiroth also scowled a little from his hiding place. If Zackary was going to just sit there and humiliate him, then he was going to exact some serious revenge later. He didn't see how his humiliation would help soothe Cloud down from his anger.

"And so, the next time that Hojo made one of his little comments, I kind of punched him."

Zack grinned a little sheepishly at Cloud's open mouthed 'what an idiot' expression.

"Needless to say, Seph wasn't too pleased. He dragged me away like I was some unruly little kid."

Here Sephiroth's eyebrow rose. _Perhaps that was because you were acting like one, Zackary._

"And then laid into me with all this 'I am perfectly capable of fighting my own battles, you shouldn't encourage me to completely depend on you, what the hell were you thinking? You could have gotten into serious trouble, do you really think that I want you to be issued with a court martial?' I was pretty touched that he was worried about me, but also pretty pissed off that he had just come to expect that no one was going to help him, and that he shouldn't accept assistance. But mostly it was just Hojo's entire presence that got to me." Zack shrugged.

Sephiroth sighed. He was eternally grateful that Zack was on his staff, but there was always that worry that one day, something might happen. And punching influential members of Shinra did not help.

"But the point is, I was trying to protect Sephiroth, Cloud. Sephiroth. The Great General. The Demon of Wutai. Leader of the strongest army on this planet. Your superior. My superior. However you want to put it, I was trying to coddle and protect General Sephiroth. And do you think that Sephiroth is a weak man?"

Cloud's eyes widened as though horrified at the mere suggestion of such - what he considered - blasphemy. He shook his head.

Zack smiled softly. "Well there you are then. It has nothing to do with your strength. I worry about people that I care for. That's what you do with people you hold close."

For a long moment, Cloud was silent, soaking this in. After a time, his eyes and hard expression began to soften, and he looked up at Zack with guilt clearly shining in his eyes.

"I'm sorry Zack. I know that you care about me, and I appreciate it, I really do! I-"

Cloud bit his lip, cutting off his own rambling.

"Thank you." He said quietly, staring intently at the carpet now. "I don't know what I'd do if you didn't care. And…and I-I care too, about…y'know."

Cloud mumbled, cheeks gaining a deep red blush, his tongue stumbling awkwardly over the sentiments.

Zack laughed softly. Cloud could be a little uneasy with emotional outlet. His awkward mumbling was endearing.

"It's okay. I know you do. And thank you. If you didn't forgive me for teasing you every five minutes, I wouldn't be able to go on." Zack laughed as Cloud's blush deepened and he shifted from foot to foot, highly embarrassed by now.

"Go on. Go get something to drink before you overheat and explode." Zack grinned, giving a friendly push to Cloud, who was all too happy for an excuse to escape.

Zack laughed softly again as the door closed, picking up the chair that had been upended by Cloud's outburst. He sat down and simply stared into the distance for a while, deep in thought.

He didn't look like he was going to move any time soon. And Sephiroth suddenly decided that it was rather ridiculous to hide in his room like a scared child. He may as well admit that he had been there and make his apology.

"I owe you an apology, Zackary." He declared, making Zack jump to his feet in shock.

"Jesus Seph! Just about gave me a heart attack! What are you – oh." Zack grimaced a little as he realised that the perils of living with other people had struck again.

Sephiroth inclined his head.

"I was sleeping and woke to the sound of the two of you. I didn't want to interrupt and so I stayed. I did _attempt_ to block out your voices, but…" Sephiroth smiled wryly. "I'm sure you know that it can be a very difficult thing to do. Again, I'm very sorry. I didn't mean to intrude."

"Whoa, whoa, easy with the penance there, Seph!" Zack chuckled. "Nothing to worry about. It's practically impossible to live with other people in a relatively small area and _not _overhear things. Besides, I think I'm the one that is more embarrassed right now."

Sephiroth tilted his head curiously. Zack smile and rubbed the back of his neck ruefully.

"To be talking about someone, and get overheard by them? Not cool."

Sephiroth's lips curved into a smile, and he glanced at Zack with a mock stern face.

"I'll let you off this time, I suppose. But if it happens again…"

Zack burst out laughing, pointing at Sephiroth.

"Was that a joke from the Great General? I think it was. I feel so proud! Victory is sweet! Now if only I could get Spike to stop wilting with embarrassment whenever anybody so much as speaks to him." Zack's face went slightly wistful as he was no doubt imagining the 'new and improved Cloud.'

Sephiroth rolled his eyes as he made his way to sit by Zack.

"Is Strife alright?"

Zack pulled himself out of his musing.

"Spike? Yeah, he'll be fine. He just gets a little worked up sometimes. Can't say I blame him. He's had a bit of a tough ride. But he'll be fine after he's had the chance to cool down. The meltdowns are few and far between."

Sephiroth nodded. He had rarely seen Cloud lose control, but he knew that there were occasions when he did. He also knew that Zack was there every time, for which he was glad; he was no good at comforting people. Excellent at calming them down – you had to be when you were commanding one side of a war - but not so good at actually providing solace.

Speaking of solace…

"Why were you standing so far away from him?"

Zack turned, a puzzled look in his eyes.

"What are you talking about?"

Sephiroth was about to say that it didn't matter, that he shouldn't have asked, but he knew that Zack would just brush off these things, and hound him until he confessed, so he sighed, and repeated the question.

"Why were you standing so far away from Strife? He was clearly upset, and usually when you want to cheer people up, you are very…tactile about it. You always hug them or pat them, or ruffle their hair. But this time you were standing at the opposite side of the room to Strife. You didn't touch him. Why?"

Zack's eyes lit up with understanding, and he smiled, and took a deep breath, looking as though he was thinking something through thoroughly.

"Well, you're right, normally I'd be the first one there with my arm around him but…but this time it was different. He was angry. Seriously angry. And…and when people are angry, they don't really like to be…coddled." Zack explained carefully, with some difficulty.

"Especially if the person that they are talking to is the one that they are angry with. I can't really explain that well. You know what it's like; you're pissed off with someone, then you just know that you don't want them to be near you. You don't wanna see them, hear them, feel them or have anything to do with them because they've already pissed you off into the next universe, and you just know that if you spend any more time with them, they're just going to get on your nerves even more, and you'll end up smacking them if they overstep the line. And touching is usually over that line."

Here Zack grinned a little ruefully.

"So you gotta back off a little. I learnt the hard way that you gotta give Cloud his space. If he feels like you're a little too close for comfort, he will _not_ pull any punches. Literally."

Zack smirked and rubbed his arm. "Don't let anybody tell you that that kid is weak. Packs one hell of a punch."

Sephiroth stared at Zack's arm, as if expecting to see the huge bruise suddenly reappear. Then he thought back to the bruise that had been on his arm after Cloud had clung to him like an extra determined limpet. He looked up at Zack.

"Thank you Zack. I will try to remember that."

TBC

Next chapter: 'Joy in simple things' by **request** from Jennrr.

If you have any **prompts** for me, **tell me!** I will do my very best to do them all, but get yours in quick: first come first served.


	4. Lesson Four: Joy in simple things

_Lesson four: Joy in simple things._

General Sephiroth had seen many strange things in his time.

Living with Zack did not really cut down on the number of strange things that occurred around him.

But seeing Zack and _Strife _now doing something very strange was new.

Cloud was always the quiet, calm and sensible one. He was the one who, in Sephiroth's experience, was the one who looked on, biting his lip nervously, while Zack did very odd things.

This time, however, Cloud seemed to be quite happily partaking of this strange behaviour.

The blond was sitting cross legged on the grass opposite the parade ground, and was laughing quietly, but most definitely wildly, his shoulders shaking with the effort to keep the hysteria inside.

Of course, there was no Cloud without Zack, and sure enough, the brunette was sitting directly behind the boy, looking far too pleased with the giggles that he was eliciting from the blond.

He seemed to be trailing his fingers across Cloud's back lightly, in what Sephiroth could only imagine was a random pattern; however, Zack seemed to be going to great pains to draw certain lines at certain points, and had a look of devious concentration on his face.

Cloud, who had shoved his hand in front of his mouth, seemed to be going a rather unhealthy red colour, and just as Sephiroth was about to intervene, to tell Zack to stop his antics, Cloud burst out laughing hysterically.

"A-a circle! A smiley face! A…a sun! I don't know!" He shrieked, tears of laughter rolling down his face as he writhed.

Zack simply grinned.

"Nope! And I think that you already guessed at least two of those already. Try again!"

Cloud groaned, but it turned into a yelp halfway through when Zack began trailing his fingers across his back again.

"But it tickles! I don't know what it is, I give up!"

Zack made a mock shocked face.

"But you can't give up! Giving up is not an option. You have to know what it is! You of all people should get this one!"

He then lifted his hands, and Cloud barely had time to choke out a laughter filled -"Please!"- before Zack was back to trailing those patterns over Cloud's back, except this time he pressed extra hard, and made his dots extra forceful, as though trying to explain something in writing, but to a very stupid person.

Cloud was ominously still and silent for a moment, but Zack's grin was unholy, and his gleaming eyes were watching Cloud expectantly, not in the least put off by Cloud's lack of response, as if knowing that something good was coming.

Very gradually, the boy began to shake and tremble slightly, and Sephiroth could hear some very strange, muffled noises coming from the blond. He shifted to get a look at his face; ready to say something if Cloud's cheeks were again an unhealthy red that spoke of impending loss of consciousness.

As it turned out, he didn't need to intervene, because apparently his shuffling had alerted Zack to the fact that he and Cloud weren't alone.

For a very brief moment when Zack turned to face whoever was interrupting them, his eyes held a fierce look in them.

The gaze seemed to contain a number of different emotions that were all equally determined and slightly ferocious.

There was irritation and resentment for whoever had interrupted one of the rare times that Zack could spend truly alone with Cloud. Sephiroth suddenly felt guilty as soon as this thought occurred to him. Zack and Cloud were almost always with other troopers and SOLDIERS during the daylight hours, even if they were on a break or a day off, and the evenings, although usually spent together, tended to be fairly short given the early hour that they both had to rise at.

The rest of the time, Sephiroth realised with a start, if they were not with other soldiers, they (though more often it was just Zack, which only meant that even then he was separating them when they could be together) were with him.

Zack's eyes also spoke of sadness and protectiveness. Sad that Cloud was not often as happy as he was now, and sad that he could only relax enough to become this happy when it was no one but Zack and himself. And protective of this rare joy. He did not want it to drain from Cloud simply because another person had walked in on their activities. He didn't want to see the rosy-cheeked joy flee from Cloud's face, did not want for him to suddenly become uncomfortable and curl up into that protective little metaphorical ball that shielded the boy from the rest of the world.

However, as soon as he registered that it was Sephiroth who was watching, all the animosity disappeared from his face, and he lit up with a genuinely delighted grin, mouthing the word '_listen_' and pointing to Cloud.

Zack continued painting his invisible and seemingly random patterns onto a shaking canvas. All of a sudden though, the trembling stopped, and instead of being put out, Zack simply grinned, raised his finger slowly, placing it at the top of Cloud's back.

He ran a quick, light line straight down Cloud's back, and whooped at the rather spectacular reaction he got.

Cloud's breath whooshed out of him in helpless laughter that was like nothing Sephiroth had ever heard from the boy. Well, he didn't think he had heard anything like it from _anybody _before. But it was so rare to hear a proper, full-bellied laugh from Cloud that it made the sound even stranger.

Cloud's laugh came out in short little stutters, proper little 'ha ha' sounds that followed each other in quick successions, but when Cloud drew desperate breath beneath Zack's hands that continued to skate over his trembling back, the boy squeaked. It was a rather surprising sound, and Sephiroth blinked, wondering how any human could make a sound like that.

On they went, becoming more and more rapid, the high pitched squeals making Cloud's chest move up and down swiftly. Zack took obvious glee in the sound, tickling Strife persistently, wanting to yield more of the delighted squeaks from the boy.

It was as though he was laughing so hysterically that his throat was closing up, and at this thought, Sephiroth began to fret. What if the boy really was choking? What if he couldn't draw breath, and was in actual fact, terrified? What if Zack's continued tickling made him unable to tell him to stop? What if the laughter was in fact now panicked squeals, but being misinterpreted by Zack, so that –

"Hey. You. Sit down. And stop with the frowny face."

Sephiroth was startled out of his worry by Zack's voice, and the realisation that the squeaks had stopped.

"I'm sorry, I -"

"No. I don't want you to be sorry. I want you to sit down and relax." Zack said exasperatedly, but with a gentle smile on his face. "He's fine. In case you hadn't noticed."

The brunette nodded towards Cloud, who was now resting his head in Zack's lap, seemingly exhausted by his hysterical laughing fit. However, he looked nothing less than content, with his eyes closed, his cheeks slightly flushed, and a small, sleepy smile on his face.

Zack tugged on the hem of Sephiroth's coat, and the older man slowly sat down, all the while keeping his eyes on Cloud, as though he were some kind of rare animal that might be scared off by his presence.

Although this was far from the truth, it was at this moment that Cloud saw fit to wake from his daze; curious as to whom Zack was speaking to.

Big blue eyes gazed up until they met intense green, and Sephiroth watched as they widened with realisation and something else.

He was not quite sure what that 'something else' was. The first few encounters he had had with Cloud, he had been convinced that it was fear. But Zack had assured him, and now he could see it for himself, that it was not fear. It was nervousness, it was hero-worship, it was almost painful self-consciousness, it was..._something_, but it was certainly not fear.

"S-sir!" Cloud squeaked, for the umpteenth time that day. He suddenly turned and began to pry at Zack's hands for a moment, struggling to sit up, to salute, to do _something _to acknowledge the General's presence.

"_Relax_, kid." Zack ordered, his voice, although light and cheerful, containing a little strain. As though the thought of Cloud clamming up now and undoing all his hard work at getting him to relax was a little more than he could stand.

He batted away Cloud's prying hands, and pushed down on his shoulders a little forcefully, settling the boy back into his lap.

"Please." Sephiroth said quietly, beginning to regret that he had ever interrupted, but Zack was giving him a look again, as if to say, _I know what you're thinking, and I don't like it. Stop thinking._

"Listen to Zack. I don't want to make you…uncomfortable."

Cloud's huge eyes peered over Zack's lap towards him, and Zack began running soothing hands through Cloud's hair.

"Come on you guys. Quit trying to out-polite each other. Nobody's going to court martial anybody, and nobody is going to evaporate into a terrified and blushing puddle, much as Spike's hue might suggest that," Zack mock-sighed, ruffling Cloud's hair, and nudging Sephiroth with his toe. "We're all friends here, just chill yeah? Gods, I swear sometimes I would have an easier job trying to get a practice dummy to relax with me."

Cloud chuckled slightly, his eyelids drooping from Zack's stroking of his hair. He gave Sephiroth another glance, and, as though to prove to all of them that he trusted him, he closed his eyes again, and the small, sleepy smile returned to his face.

Zack's grin went almost from ear to ear, and Sephiroth felt his own lips stretch a little in a small smile.

As he watched Cloud's contented face, a thought occurred to him. Zack was rich. Being a First Class SOLDIER paid well. Being the General's Second paid even better. He knew for a fact that Zack could, and sometimes did, present Cloud with gifts. And although these undoubtedly made Cloud happy – Sephiroth suspected the mere thought that someone considered him worth spending money on delighted the boy – the sheer joy on the boy's face now was unrivalled by any expression he had ever seen on him. Intriguing, how it was the joy in simple things…

AN: Okay, so that was 'Joy in simple things' for Jenrr. I'm really sorry this took so long, and I hope you like it! The next chapter is 'Dreams' for Yuleen75. And a new prompt – making the fifth prompt - is 'Arrogance' for gg.

And a message for **Yodel **now, who has dibs on prompt three. Yodel darling, would you like the object of this crush to be male or female?


	5. Lesson Five: Dreams

Lesson Five: Dreams

_Lesson Five: Dreams_

Even from here, with his enhanced senses Sephiroth could detect the signs of camp. He could see the cheerful orange glow of the fire illuminating the thick pitch black of the night that shrouded the forest. He could smell the faint smoky odour that accompanied the flames. He could feel the welcome warmth just begin to wrap around him, in soft contrast to the biting chill of the night.

A scout of the area had not uncovered anything worthy of alarm, and now he was keen to get back to the clearing where they had set up camp. These days loneliness was affecting him a lot more profoundly than it used to. He strongly suspected that Zack and his quiet blond shadow were to blame. Not that he minded. Not really.

As he stalked silently back into the warm clearing, he carried out an almost imperceptible, but fully detailed sweep of the area.

The fire was still going. The correct number of tents were in place. The five SOLDIER guards were still in position, none betraying any signs of concern. The foliage and the ground were undisturbed by unwanted footprints. The air held no foreign scents. The woodland around them was perfectly silent, all the animals seemingly intimidated by their presence.

Good. Everything was in order.

However, on his way towards his tent, something that he had previously discarded as unimportant caught his eye. By the fire, curled into an impossibly small huddle, sat a cadet with spiky blond hair that simply could not be mistaken.

Sephiroth frowned slightly, walking quietly over to the boy, wondering what on earth he was doing out here and not in his bedroll. It wasn't that he was not allowed out here, it was just that it seemed a little odd to choose to sit out in the relative cold instead of in the warmth of the sturdy tents. And why would someone choose to stay awake when they had an early start tomorrow, and when they could be fast asleep by now.

As he got closer, Sephiroth could see that the boy tense, his muscles taught to the point where they quivered, his head canted slightly, uneasily, like a deer listening in the wind. A deer who knew that a lion stalked close by.

"Why are you still awake at this hour, private?" Sephiroth asked, keeping his voice soft.

Despite his efforts towards a quiet approach, the boy started. "I'm sorry sir," he stammered, starting to rise from his seat on the log by the fire, his hands fisting the material of his shirt anxiously.

Sephiroth opened his mouth as if to protest, then decided on a more direct approach. Closing the short distance between them, he pressed gently on Cloud's shoulders to make him sit once again.

"I do not want an apology. You have done nothing wrong." Sephiroth said to the boy, wondering for a moment why this young man's first response was always to assume his own guilt.

"I only wondered why you were outside at such an hour."

Cloud's muscles that had just begun to relax at Sephiroth's lack of ire, once more tensed up, much to Sephiroth's confusion. What had he said? He had tried to put the boy at ease, and it seemed to have been working, so why now this tension and anxiety?

A small sigh left the General's lips, not frustrated exactly, just extremely perplexed. Cloud however, flinched at the sound, imagining the imposing man's patience to be wearing thin. His eyes widened when Sephiroth sat down beside him.

Cloud bowed his head slightly, though this still did not hide his faintly reddening cheeks. After a moment of deliberation, he tilted his head up a fraction, and looked sideways towards Sephiroth. It wasn't quite as nerve-wracking as looking directly into the General's eyes.

"I'm sorry sir." Although it was still an apology, it was said quietly and steadily, with relative calm. Strangely enough the knowledge that he was apologising for being so jumpy pleased Sephiroth.

"I just…I couldn't sleep."

Now Cloud did bow his head straight out of scrutiny range, but the older man still got the distinct impression that Cloud was hiding an even deeper blush than before. For a moment it seemed that the cadet would not say anything more, but just as Sephiroth was preparing to prompt him, the boy took a deep breath.

"I um…saw things." Came the rather awkward answer, and Sephiroth felt something akin to dread lurch inside him. Good lord, he thought, please do not let it be that the boy saw some of the soldiers engaged in…friendly night time activities. Cloud seemed so innocent that something like that would probably traumatise him. Then again, he was friends with Zack. And this was the military. Staying innocent for too long was hard to do.

However, Cloud's voice broke him out of his reverie. He continued speaking, obviously sensing nothing of the dubious in his previous answer.

"I saw them in my sleep. They didn't make any sense, but they…they were…disconcerting." The bond mumbled, his eyes trained steadily on the ground.

Now Sephiroth was slightly confused. The boy saw things in his sleep? How very odd. And, as Cloud so rightly said, very disconcerting. Somehow though, Cloud only seemed disturbed about the content of his vision. The fact that he was hallucinating in itself did not seem to disturb the boy.

A frown slowly found its way onto Sephiroth's face.

"How often do these occur?" he enquired, peering at Cloud with concern.

The blond head jerked up, and Cloud regarded Sephiroth with surprise, as though confused by the question.

"Um, I…I don't really know." When Sephiroth looked puzzled, Cloud hastily continued.

"I mean, there doesn't really seem to be any sort of pattern, they just…come and go. As they please."

Sephiroth frowned. How very disturbing. The closest to this that he had ever heard of were the feverish delusions of SOLDIERS when they received their first Mako shot. But this boy was not enhanced. He had never come into contact with Mako before. Unless there was an incident that he was not aware of. But then the power of Mako delusions was too much even for some SOLDIERS to take. Some simply went mad. The voices and visions were too strong for some minds. And yet this boy, this child, could withstand them?

Or perhaps not.

The thought crept up on him, spreading a cold dread throughout his body and mind. What if Cloud was not strong enough to withstand them? What if the boy was one step away from utter insanity?

Sephiroth swung his head around lightening quick, fixing Cloud with a piercing gaze.

"Cloud, you must listen to me." He began calmly, quietly, but still with that cold dread surging through him. "I want you to-"

"Cloudy?" Sephiroth snapped his gaze away from Cloud, seeking out their intruder.

His eyes fell upon a rather sleepy-looking Zack standing a few feet away. For a moment the two men stared at each other in silence, one in confusion and one in something near to fear.

"Zack!" Cloud's happy exclamation broke the spell, and both men's stares were diverted towards the younger man. The sleepy haze in Zack's eyes seemed to clear as he looked at the blond, and he smiled and walked up to the two sitting by the fire.

"Hey kiddo." He greeted quietly, plonking himself down on the log next to Cloud. His exuberant smile softened into one of sympathy as he locked gazes with his younger friend. "Another nightmare, Spike?"

Cloud blushed again, ducking his head but nodding slightly. He seemed embarrassed by his admission.

Whatever he was admitting to, Sephiroth thought, having watched the interaction with complete bewilderment.

Whatever was going on though, Sephiroth wished it would end quickly. He needed to talk to Zack about Cloud's visions. The boy may be in danger, and Sephiroth didn't think he would be able to forgive himself if Cloud went mad and it could have been prevented.

His eyes drew back to watch Zack pat Cloud gently on the back and tell him to go back to their tent.

"Go get some sleep kiddo. I promise I'll be along in just a sec. I won't be long." He coaxed, smiling and gently pushing the boy away.

Eyes and ears following Cloud's retreat intently, Sephiroth began to speak as soon as the boy was out of ear-shot.

"Zack, I think Cloud may be at risk."

Zack's head whipped up to fix those intent an suddenly fierce eyes on those of his friend.

"What do you mean?" He almost barked out, the worry shining clear and unabashed in his eyes.

Sephiroth took a breath, thinking how best to say this.

"Zack, I need to know if Cloud has ever been in direct contact with a large amount of Mako."

Zack's face registered confusion, and he frowned slightly, shaking his head.

"No, no he hasn't. He's never said anything and his file doesn't report anything like that. All his med-checks have been fine." The younger man rattled off everything he could think of that might give a hint as to any possible incidents, but every suggestion he came up with he immediately shot down. He eventually stopped and shook his head.

"No. Nothing. I can't see how it's possible that he could have come into contact with any significant amount of Mako. Seph, why are you asking this? What's wrong, buddy?"

The General sighed, looking into Zack's concerned face, not really wanting to reveal the secret, not wanting to cause Zack distress. Not wanting to face the possibility himself.

"Zack, I…have reason to believe that Cloud is suffering from Mako poisoning."

He watched in abject misery as Zack's face drained of all colour, his hands clenching into fists, his whole body seeming to shiver.

"What?" he rasped out, his face lined in distress. "What? Why? What happened?"

Sephiroth averted his gaze, no longer able to hold Zack's eyes. He took a breath to continue.

"I found him out here, and thought it rather unusual for him to be up so late when we have an early start tomorrow. So I asked why he as here. And he told me that he saw things. Visions. In his sleep. The only case I have heard like this is of SOLDIERS who have come down with Mako poisoning. When they hear voices and see things, and I-"

He was suddenly cut off by an awful wheezing sound from Zack. He looked up to see Zack's white face strained and lined, mouth open in a strange grimace, breath whooshing out of him in a macabre parody of a laugh –

Sephiroth's eyes narrowed dangerously as he looked closer. The mouth – it was smiling, not quivering. The breath, it was laughing, not moaning. The man was laughing, not grieving.

He was laughing in relief, yet it was choked and strange, and the mouth, though smiling, was flickering on and off, his eyes too wide. Zack was hysterical.

"What on earth do you-" Sephiroth began to snarl, amazed that the man could laugh at a time like this. But he was cut off when Zack collapsed against him, clutching him an a fashion that seemed to be both angry and happy and needy all at the same time. Sephiroth started when Zack's voice rasped out in that strange tone, relieved and angry and happy all in one.

"God damn you, Seph, you crazy, fucked up…sweet fucking softie." Zack gasped out, his shivering and rasping and clutching eventually stilling so that he was now simply draped over Sephiroth in sprawling and exhausted hug.

"I swear to God, you are the most screwed up, panic-inducing sweetie pie that I have ever met. But my God I could fucking bitch slap you for what you just did to me." Zack breathed into the man's neck quietly, nuzzling Sephiroth and laughing quietly when the man made a confused and almost distressed noise.

"But it's okay. I won't bitch slap you. I couldn't do that to you, not when you were just being an overprotective mama chocobo. And it's not your fault you almost made me have a heart attack."

Again, the noise of distress from Sephiroth.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to…scare you or hurt you." Sephiroth sounded bewildered, simply guessing as to what he had caused Zack to feel. But the apology, however confused, was sincere. The last thing he wanted to do was hurt Zack.

"I know, buddy, I know. It's not your fault." Zack laughed lightly, pushing himself up and away from the General to look him in the eye.

"But Seph, Cloud is fine. He doesn't have Mako poisoning. He had a _dream_."

"A dream?" Sephiroth tested the word out, searching through his mind for any past references to that word. "I…think I have heard the word before. But, explain please."

Zack smiled, by now completely calm again and able to see the humour of the situation.

"Sure thing, boss. A dream is a vision. You weren't wrong there. They can be things that people see and hear in their sleep. But it's completely normal. Almost everybody dreams, and it doesn't mean that you're crazy, it just means that your brain is functioning normally. And that's what Spike has. He's quite prone to them."

Sephiroth mulled this over for a moment, then looked up at Zack, a question in his eyes.

"And, a 'nightmare'?" He asked, recalling the strange word he had heard Zack use when addressing Cloud earlier. He knew of the word, obviously, had heard it before, but had never before known its meaning.

"A nightmare is just a bad dream. A disturbing one. Spike often has them. My job is just to shake him awake whenever it looks as though his dreams are freaking him out. Guess I was too deeply asleep to notice this one though." He sheepishly rubbed the back of his neck.

"Why did he seem so ashamed about his nightmare?" Sephiroth enquired, remembering the way that Cloud's eyes had very rarely met his when the had spoken, how he bowed his head and blushed when Zack had asked about the nightmare.

Now the brunette's face twisted slightly in anger.

"For some reason there are a few ignorant people who take delight in spreading the rumour that nightmares only visit small kids. Which is the biggest pile of bull I've ever heard." Zack said emphatically, waving his hands in agitation. "Nightmares don't suddenly just disappear when you become a teenager or an adult. I know I sure as hell get nightmares about some of the things I've done. And I know that the prime reason for most SOLDERS going to see Shinra's shrink is because they can't handle the nightmares." Zack's voice was bitter, his eyes full of fury towards the people who scorned Cloud and others for their dreams.

"And yet there are some idiots who insist very loudly and publicly that adults shouldn't get nightmares. But you just know that those are the kinds of people that hide behind others when the shit hits the fan." Zack said with disgust. "The people that think that all your troubles sop when you become an adult."

Sephiroth nodded his head slowly. "Yes. Yes, I think I can identify with that. If only it were true that adulthood brings solutions to every problem."

Zack snorted, nodding his jaded agreement.

"You said it Seph. You said it. Now I just need you to say it to Cloud, cos he lets those bastards get to him. Actually starts to believe what they say, despite the fact that he beats the crap out of them when they say it."

A small smile curved across Sephiroth's lips.

"I'll make the time to tell him that they're wrong, Zack, I give you my word."

End. Sorry that took so long!


	6. Lesson Six: Crush

Prompt Five

"Just because you have a major crush on me!"

"I do not; shut your fucking mouth Johnson, before I decide to stick something nasty in it!"

"Yeah, you'd love that, wouldn't you baby?"

A few feet away from the bickering pair, a standard military truck lurked. It contained maps, basic supplies and a whole arsenal of weapons, but it also afforded a place from which Sephiroth could watch and listen completely covertly as the two men laughed, one with a great amount of glee, the other with apparent embarrassment. The latter was spluttering and blushing a deep red while turning away from his companion, trying to prevent a smile from twisting onto his lips.

Sephiroth buried his nose back into the logistical papers and the weather-beaten, care-worn maps, trying not to let his eyes stray again towards the two Third Classes.

This mission had been going on for far too long. After months of planning, fighting and calls for reinforcements, there were so many personnel here that it gave him a headache to even think about an accurate regroup and status assessment before they moved on. It hadn't been particularly dangerous or gruelling, just long, drawn out and boring. It required patience.

Sephiroth realised that this quality did not come naturally for most SOLDIERs, and was certainly not easy for the young troopers here, all of whom were starting to get restless and antsy. And the weather wasn't helping the men's mood: sparkling shades of white and silver coated the land. It was beautiful, but also cold enough to cause whining in the unenhanced ranks.

But the General had to admit that even he was beginning to lose his enthusiasm. If it could be called enthusiasm. It was more like a stoic determination to complete the task given to him. He almost always strived for that. It was his duty. But this had stretched even his limits. He wholeheartedly understood the wishes of the men to return home.

And perhaps this was why he had allowed his normally rigorously self-disciplined concentration to wander from the matter at hand to the antics of two bored and rather unusually jovial SOLDIERs.

"Bless you and your little man-crush!" A mocking coo, laughter barely held in check.

"Fuck you! I don't have a crush on you, where do you get off thinking that?" A surprisingly shrill, indignant retort.

"I've seen the way you look at me. The way you check me out when you think no-one's looking. The way you can't keep your eyes off of me. No matter what you're looking at, if I'm around, your eyes are always drawn back to me. I've seen the love in those baby blues of yours."  
This time there was no attempt to hold the laughter back; rather, it seemed to be a struggle for the man to force the words out from between his whoops of glee.

"What the fuck are you talking about, you dick? I do not stare at you, since when have I stared at you? Besides, why would I like _you_? You're an arrogant, irritating, sarcastic, pessimistic, _narcissistic _asshole!" A deep gasp for breath, face redder than ever before.

"Oh, methinks he doth protest too much! You _want _me, I know you want me." More cackles, this time as the offender grabbed his companion, rubbing up against the other's smaller body.

"Get, get, get, get, _get!"_

Arms flailing wildly, he managed to dislodge his friend, who rolled easily to the snowy ground, undeterred and still laughing. The standing SOLDIER glared down at the other for a moment, blush not receding in the slightest, before stomping away muttering, "Stupid bugger. If you don't hurry up and shut up I'm gonna leave you here."

To which the other SOLDIER yelped, sprang to his feet and hurried after his still-grumbling companion, the smile never leaving his face.

Odd. He didn't have an extensive knowledge of the topic of conversation between the two soldiers, but it had clearly altered their behaviour somewhat. He had never seen the two - both approaching promotion and as such under his close observation - act in such a...juvenile way. Perhaps it was the weather and the boredom. One had to make allowances for that.

Though, in all honesty their antics did not irritate him as he thought it should.

"Those two seriously need to admit some plain truths and get a room. Preferably soon."

If his responses were not as tightly controlled as they were, he may have jumped. Zack very nearly took him by surprise. He scolded himself mentally. The climate and tediousness should under no circumstances be allowed to affect his concentration.

But as he turned to meet the grinning face of Zack that was peering over his shoulder, he found his mind wandering once again towards the two SOLDIERs.

"What do you mean?" Sometimes Zack made very little sense. Then again, the SOLDIERs had made little sense to him, so he had a vague idea that this was due more to his ignorance with regards to certain aspects of culture than Zack's curious ways.

Zack's grin only grew. His face fairly glowed, and it wasn't due to the cold wind that occasionally whipped around their camp.

"Johnson's right; Drake has a huge, fully-blown crush on him." And here Zack paused, as if reassessing his words, then smirked. "Then again, Johnson can shut his mouth, cause it's not as if the feeling isn't mutual."

Sephiroth simply blinked, still none the wiser.

'Crush.' It all seemed to hinge on that word. He had heard the word banded about among the men before, but had never fully understood its meaning. He obviously knew that the word had been redefined by modern culture to denote something completely different from its original meaning, as even he was not so socially inept as to not recognise that 'to press or squeeze with a force that destroys or deforms' was not appropriate for the context that the soldiers seemed to talk in.

"Yes, but what is a 'crush'?" Almost impatiently, Sephiroth waved off Zack's sappy monologue about Johnson and Drake.

Zack didn't seem put off by Sephiroth's manner. Then again, he never was. He took everything in stride, accepted the things that Sephiroth did and said, accepted his questions patiently and without judgement. It occurred to Sephiroth, certainly not for the first time, that he would not be happy at all should anything happen to Zack.

But he forced back those unpleasant thoughts when he saw that Zack had formulated an appropriate answer, and was beginning to wax lyrical on the subject of 'crushes.'

"Gaia, you sure do ask the hard questions. Bear with me boss, this is kinda difficult to explain." A deep breath and dramatic expulsion of air, and Zack was ready to begin.

"A crush is when you have...an infatuation with someone. Although that does sound kind of stalkerish. Huh. Oh well. When you have a crush, you like someone. You more than like someone. You think they're like, the best thing in the world. They can do no wrong, and you think that everything they do is super-cool." Here Zack grinned and waggled his eyebrows for some reason.

"You want them to be happy, you want really, really badly to impress them. You want nothing more than to spend time with them and get closer to them. It's a sort of romantic, sexual...thing." He finished off rather lamely, glancing up at Sephiroth to see if any of it had sunk in.

The other man's eyes were narrowed as he mulled through the idea in his head. Then he finally spoke.  
"It seems rather like the practice of finding a mate in the animal kingdom."

Zack's eyes widened for a moment, but managed to snap his mouth shut before he could say anything. And when he thought about it...it did kind of make sense. Actually, more than 'kind of.'

"Well...yeah, I guess that's what it is. Especially if you're taking it back to basics. We are, after all animals, so yeah, mating is the gist of it. Although it's slightly more complex with humans than with other animals."

But Sephiroth merely waved this away with a mutter.

"Naturally."

He looked slightly more familiar with the idea now that it had been explained in scientific terms. Which was kind of sad when Zack thought about it. Which is why he tries not to think too hard sometimes.

Shaking his head in a conscious effort to dislodge those thoughts, his eyes cast around for a distraction, and when he found it, his eyes lit up with an unholy gleam.

"Wait right here Seph, I'll be back."

And without waiting for an answer from the man now looking faintly horrified, Zack sped off in hot pursuit of the leader of squadron seven.

***

"Sergeant Mahler, hold up!"

Mahler flinched, sighed, and wondered what would happen if he just kept walking and ignored the voice. A face full of snow and a SOLDIER sitting on his back, probably.

No. Much less embarrassing to just do what the voice said. Though perhaps not so merciful for Strife.

"Yes, Lieutenant, what can I do for you?"

Zack's grin widened as he saw the sympathy for an as-yet not present person on Mahler's face.

"Nothing much." Innocence had never worked. But it was always worth a shot.  
"Just looking for Strife."

Mahler allowed himself a small, tired smile at the irony of that statement.

"He's a bit busy right now, Sir."

Nothing. Absolutely nothing. Not a flicker of guilt, not a wavering of those soulful eyes which were now giving him their best innocent and heartbroken gaze. Mahler sighed once more.

"The last time I saw him, he was by the comms tent."

Eyes brightening, Zack fairly skipped away.

"Thanks!"

***

For the second time that day, Sephiroth heard the sound of indignant spluttering. But this time there was a healthy dose of bafflement mixed in. He resisted the urge to hide his head in his hands.

"Zack, please, tell me what the hell's going on, I - "

"Don't worry Spiky, nothing terrible, I just need you to be my glamorous assistant."

This did not seem to reassure the other. If anything, it only added a faint undertone of terror to the spluttering.

"C'mon Zack, no, I-I can't. What could you possibly need me - "

"Pff. You really need to work on that self-esteem of yours, you know. I always need you! Why, I think I'd keel over and die without you!"

"Don't joke about that! Umph!" A small sound was jolted from the younger man as he was apparently pulled with ever more enthusiasm towards their goal. Sephiroth wouldn't know. He wasn't looking . The maps had his undivided attention.

However, their increased pace also brought the boy back on track as his alarm also seemed to increase.

"But I-I was busy, damn it! Please Zack, you wouldn't want to get me in trouble, would you?"

"Of course not!" Zack sounded practically scandalised. "Which is why I checked with your sergeant first."

A groan of something akin to despair issued from the young man's mouth.

"But – but...I'm not really glamorous, look at me, it's all cold, and I'm swaddled up in this bulky coat and my nose is all red and - " The voice was rising in pitch and volume now as desperation took over. Sephiroth had to admit, even though he was grasping at straws, the boy had done a remarkable job of looking at things from Zack's perspective.

Although Zack apparently didn't think so.  
"Don't be stupid! You look adorable, all bundled up in that coat. And your nose is such a little button nose that the redness only adds to the whole 'cute' factor you've got going on there."

Sephiroth would be surprise if the whole camp didn't hear that growl of frustration. Zack only laughed.

Then they rounded the corner, Zack rubbing his arm a little proudly and not at all unrepentantly, Cloud freezing in his now-violent attempts to free himself.

"Lieutenant Fair and glamorous assistant reporting, sir!"

Sephiroth sighed, and Cloud seemed robbed of the ability to do anything but hunch down in sheer embarrassment and horror while glaring viciously at Zack.

Just as Sephiroth was about to speak, perhaps to ask why Zack was going to need a 'glamorous assistant' or perhaps to simply order the release of the poor cadet, the dark haired man spoke.

"You see, Spiky, we were just talking about Johnson and Drake. I'm sure you know all about them and their 'sexual tension you could cut with a knife' thing. It's not as if it's subtle. But there's nothing quite like an up close and personal demonstration, is there?"

Sephiroth was fairly sure that he did not imagine the whimper that issued from Cloud's mouth and the drastic paling of his face.

"The thing is Cloud, my vocabulary skills were strained a little bit just now - "

"No surprise there then." The cadet hissed. Zack completely ignored him.

"Because, well, you try to explain what a crush is." Zack waited for barely a second, hardly enough time for the cadet to even try to mount a defence.

"See! It's impossible! So. That's where you come in." And now Zack grabbed hold of Cloud's shoulders, spinning him around so that he faced the general directly. Zack slapped one hand over Cloud's chest with dramatic flair. He peered over Cloud's shoulder, his face glowing, grin wider than could be contained.

"When you have a crush, it goes a little bit like this."

Cloud's eyes closed in sheer mortification. His friend only smiled.

"Your heart starts to beat faster and faster, fluttering against you chest with barely restrained passion whenever the object of your desire walks into the room." Zack swooned, while beginning to tap out an enthusiastic rhythm on Cloud's chest. The breathy, hushed voice in which he gushed his professions of love was ridiculous enough to evoke a small snort from Cloud, despite his utter humiliation. Zack continued, apparently encouraged by this.

"Your body starts to tremble with the heat of your lust." Zack moaned comically, shaking Cloud's hands for him and poking him in the sides to elicit a helpless giggle and something that was more like a twitch than erotic trembling.

"A heated blush rushes across your helpless skin." This time Zack fairly purred the words while caressing Cloud's admittedly red cheeks. Although the fact that his lips were slightly blue and he had his eyes tightly shut lead Sephiroth to believe that this blush had absolutely nothing to do with being at the height of sexual passion, and everything to do with being very cold and at the height of embarrassment.

"And finally you lose control of all your inhibitions, and you can finally allow your feelings to blossom!" At the climax of his speech, Zack pulled Cloud close towards him, crushing the poor cadet against his chest in a passionate embrace.

Silence followed Zack's dramatic declaration until, from the depths of the bundle of clothes that was two military personnel, Cloud's voice came, tentative and hopeful.

"Is it over yet?"

Zack laughed, releasing the boy and ruffling his hair, heedless of the scowl it produced.

"Yeah Spiky, it's over. Although you must know that my little infatuation with you will never be over." Surprisingly – or not, Sephiroth mused – although Zack's words were clearly meant in jest, they were not delivered with the same terribly over-acted drama of the earlier lines.

Both faces softened for a moment as they regarded each other with mutual fondness, and the redness of Cloud's cheeks increased just a small amount as he stuttered, fishing around for something appropriate to say.

"You're a terrible actor."

Zack's sudden burst of laughter startled Sephiroth out of his musings.

"Yeah Spiky, thanks, I love you too buddy."

It seemed obvious, even to himself, that Zack and Cloud were not immune to the symptoms that had been unsubtly acted out. Then again, from what he had gathered, there were very few people who were immune.

And as he mulled over his Second's 'demonstration', he found a part of himself that could, perhaps, if examined closely, identify with it.

Curious. For now, however, he was content to simply examine the maps with renewed determination, to the background of Cloud's indignant and furious wailing.

TBC

Huge apologies for the awful lateness and general awkwardness of this fic.


End file.
